In a perfect world, a racial composition within the Lafayette Police Department that matched the city’s racial breakdown would be ideal.

Residents might have more confidence in their department if they saw themselves reflected in its makeup. Residents who relate to their department might work more closely with it to ensure a greater degree of community safety.

Alas, the world is not perfect; law enforcement must live and work within that reality.

Lafayette’s police force is 80 percent white: Its population is 63.8 percent white, 31.1 percent black, 3.8 percent Hispanic. That heavy representation of white officers may pose a problem, especially if it undercuts residents’ confidence in and relationships with law enforcement. Nationally, cities of Lafayette’s size have police departments that are about 73 percent white.

The problem does not lie within the department’s officers themselves. They applied for their jobs, passed muster and put themselves on the line daily for Lafayette residents. Surely people want the best possible officers protecting citizens, regardless of race.

The greater problem would be if artificial barriers prevented non-white people from becoming police officers in Lafayette. There is no evidence that is true. Police Chief Jim Craft says Lafayette police recruit vigorously for non-white officers.

Craft said one problem in recruiting non-white officers is there are fewer non-white candidates. Fewer non-white candidates means fewer non-white people survive the rigorous mental, physical and psychological testing that potential law enforcement officers must encounter.

Craft also said bigger, better-paid police departments, especially federal agencies, try hard to lure officers, including non-white officers, away. Oftentimes, he said, they are successful. The promise of more pay and faster advancement is powerful.

Unstated is this: Because there have been and continue to be fewer non-white officers in the department, there are fewer sons and daughters growing up with a family tradition of public safety service. Sons and daughters oftentimes follow their parents into given professions – law enforcement is likely no different.

Craft says — rightly so — the department should not lower its standards to permit any officers through. Few people would want that; that would undermine its effectiveness and reputation.

What the department can do is to continue to present the best police force it can. It can continue to recruit at colleges and universities and from the military. It can work professionally and openly within non-white neighborhoods, setting a good example. It can press community policing efforts. But it needs help.

Non-white elected civic leaders, pastors and teachers might help boost the department’s minority ranks by promoting law enforcement careers within minority neighborhoods. It might come through public speeches or private chats. It could come through organized efforts or on their own.